Memorable moments in the journey

In thinking about my journey and what my next post(s) will be, I thought about some funny things that have happened during my journey...hope you enjoy!! (warning: some things were not really that funny when they happened, but I can laugh now...)

My famous comment to my brother, when he (i think half heartedly) suggested I start running was...."I have never seen a runner with a smile on his/her face so why would I want to do that"!! Now I run and smile and realize that there is a certain place you go when you are running....it is a place of focus and determination...not a place of unhappiness like I thought!!

My first 5k, my supportive husband (who had not even trained) decided to run with me.....hahaha.....here I am STRUGGLING, about to croak...and he is easily pouncing around beside me singing and beating his airdrums and playing his air guitar, and I am getting more and more angry by the moment!! Finally, I tell him "you are REALLY ticking me off....don't you realize how serious this is? Now go away and leave me alone to run by myself"....Needless to say, I now hum / sing, and play my air drums sometime while running....I even muster up a smile from time to time!! LOL

Already told you about the first bike ride incident...so I won't make you read that one again....but it was  funny!!

Another bike incident...my first really long bike ride was in Florida along a bike / running path, with a friend who lived near the path. I used one of her bikes because I did not have a bike rack. The bike I used was a CLASSIC Pee-wee Herman bike!!! We got several miles into the ride and she says...oh....forgot to tell you we have to go over a bridge.....(UH....incase you don't know I am terrified of heights!). So here it comes this HUGE walk over bridge with a very steep up and down ramp!!!! Did I say I was scared of heights???? So I had to push my bike up the ramp, walked it down the middle of the bridge, and down the down ramp. So we go another 12ish miles before we got back to this bridge and we are going to be strong and ride up the ramp....LOLLOLLOL....we made it about 2 pedals up and that was IT!! We were laughing so hard because our legs were so unsteady we could hardly push the bikes up the ramp. I did go out that day and buy a bike rack!! (Love ya Dawn!! haha)

We had just moved to NC and I went on a running adventure one day...without my cell phone  and NO water!! :o(. I was not familiar with our neighborhood and it was VERY hilly! What started out as a 2-3 mile run ended up being a 1.5 hour 6 mile trek trying to find my way back home!! At least I learned my way around the neighborhood!! I almost cried as I crawled up the front steps of the house!

From every moment in your journey, you either learn and grow or you ignore and stay stagnant!! I choose to learn and grow (and hopefully laugh along the way!!)

Around the track a time or two:

To start, I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving with your families / friends! It was truly a great Thanksgiving for our families and friends!! I am amazingly blessed!!

I am certain there are many others who have been around the weight loss track a time or two…I certainly have!! As with a running track, my weight loss and exercise journey has been a series of starts and stops, hurdles, and speed trials.

I have fought hard to lose weight quickly, only to gain it back even faster…and don’t forget that for every pound lost, at least 1.5 was gained!! So then I tried the “slower” approach which took me longer to get the pounds off and the still came back on fast and at an amount more than what I actually lost.  Every stop / start session seemed more and more difficult to “start” and easier to stop! The hurdles seemed to increase in size making it seem nearly impossible to complete the weight loss run. I finally got to the point where I figured that I had to accept the fact that I was going to be fat and I just needed to learn to deal with it and be happy with who I was….so I stopped looking in the mirror below the waist and threw away all of my “skinny” clothes.

Needless to say, not looking in the mirror, and throwing away my skinny clothes helped me ignore the problem….for a brief time period. But there were still the horrible pictures that I could not seem to avoid. I look back at those pictures now and still get that sad feeling in the pit of my being. All the avoidance in the world could not take away that sadness and frustration!

So, it was now almost 3 years ago that I finally decided that I did not want to live like this any longer. It is the same place where runners decide to fight the urge to stop and give that last mile their all.  I looked within and decided that feeling sad and sorry for myself was getting me no where and that NOW is the time to make a difference!!

I decided on a weight loss plan and I went at with full forced, determined to make it work this time!! The difference was that I was not losing weight to be as skinny as I was in high school…I was losing weight to be healthy and to be happy with myself. I did not base my goal on what other people or research said I needed to weigh, I based it on what I felt was acceptable for me, and what was a healthy weight that I could maintain after the “diet” was complete. THAT for me was the biggest key to success!! I was not trying to be something that others said I should be / weigh, I was working the plan around what worked for ME!!

I think this is where many people get defeated in their weight-loss journey. They base their diet plan on what others say is an acceptable weight and not on something that works for them!! You have to be realistic or it will never work.

Our bodies are not all the same so what worked for me or my lifestyle might not work for you…you have to find what works for YOU!

I would like to challenge you…if you are planning on starting a weight-loss journey. PLEASE wait until after the Christmas holiday to start, why set yourself up for failure right out of the gate! BUT what I would challenge you to do over the next few weeks is this: keep a diary of two things for at least a week (and don’t do it the week of Christmas!).  1. List everything that you eat / drink during the day. It will surprise you at how many calories you are currently taking in daily. And please don’t hold back…you need for this to truly reflect what you take in each day, and 2. As you are writing down what you eat, think about why you are eating and write that down beside the foods (ie., craved something sweet, was angry at my husband, frustrating day at work, was really hungry, etc.)

I promise you will be surprised at how many of your calories in a day come from feelings other than hunger!!

If you do this exercise, I hope that you will share your thoughts with me as you do it! I still do this from time to time when I feel my calories and eating habits have gotten out of control!

A Day or Two Late:

Well, as promised, here are my thoughts on goal setting. Sorry, I am a day or two late, but that is the thing about goal setting….you have to have a target, stretch, and exceeds measure attached to each goal or you might feel that you never are successful at meeting any of your goals!! *smile*

First, I have to say, setting goals should not be done in order to see what you failed at but to see where you have been successful. They are road maps about where you came from and where you intend on going (and how you will get there). 

Before I go any further, I am not a person that likes to set goals, or can easily think up goals, and I don’t usually set really long term goals. When I talk about long term goals (LTG) I mean that I don’t usually plan out the next 10-20-30 years of my life. Not to say that is not important…I just have a difficult time thinking in terms of where I will be or what I will be doing in 10-20-30 years. I get more satisfaction from short term goals (STG) because I can see my progress more clearly and can change my action steps more frequently, if needed.  (YES! I like frequent gratification!! LOL)

So here is what I mean about how I set goals for myself. I will relate them to my training for the half and full marathons, because this is newer to me and I still have goals that are in action mode.

In August, I decided to sign up for a half marathon on October 30, 2010 and a full marathon on January 9, 2011 (LTG). I knew that I could not just show up on these dates and run without some type of training. So, I researched different training styles and developed a plan that I thought would work for me and my life. My next step was to develop a calendar of daily and weekly (STG) goals that I would need to meeting in order to be able to meet my LTG’s.  I quickly realized that these goals (because of life) had to be fluid. For example; I might have determined that this Saturday I need to do a long run of 10 miles. But we ended up going out of town and would be driving home on Saturday. So I would do my long run on Sunday instead of Saturday. Did this mean I did not meet my goal, NO! I meant that I adjusted my goal so that even with life changes, I could meet my goal and be successful. I still got the same number of running miles in, I just changed that day that I did the run! In other words, my goal was to get in a total of 16 miles during that specific week, with 10 of those miles being done in one day (Saturday). I did get all of the miles in that week, I just had to rearrange the days that I did my runs. So I met my ultimate goal I just had to do it by being flexible about what days I actually did my runs.

If I were writing this goal out for business purposes it would look like this:

Main goal: To run a total of 16 miles this week

Action Steps:

1.     To run a short run (3 miles) on Tuesday

2.     To run a short run (3 miles) on Thursday

3.     To run a long run (10 miles) on Saturday

Target: to get in 16 miles this week – to include one long run of 10 miles

Stretch: to get in 16 miles exactly like I planned in my action steps (above)

Exceeds: to get in 16 miles plus a day of cross training or sprints

Now you might be asking why I set up my goals this way?  Because I like to be successful, and I believe that goals can and do help you to be successful, but that you have to be realistic when setting them. If you set a goal that only says you are going to run 10 miles on Saturday or you are going to lose 10 lbs by December 25th, and you don’t or can’t meet that goal, then what happens to you? You feel defeated, sad, frustrated and a whole lot of other bad feeling words, and then you give up. And giving up and not what goal setting and accomplishment is about!!

Does this mean that you will be successful at every goal you set? NO! Does it mean that you have a greater chance at being successful and feeling good about your accomplishments? YES! There are things that happen in life, that you (we) have no control over which influences our goals…(it is inevitable) but that is when you have to learn to “put on your big girl panties” and dust yourself off, readjust your goals and move forward!!

To conclude, I will leave you with this:

 Whatever it is you are trying to accomplish, set small goals that will help you to meet that larger goal, and remember three things: 1. they must be realistic, and 2. they should be fluid enough that you can still live your life to its fullest! Goals are not to hold you back, but to help you move forward in life, and 3. when life throws you a curve ball don’t give up, learn  how to readjust, celebrate what you have been successful at, and move forward!!

I hope you all have a very happy and blessed holiday with your family / friends!! I thanked God today for all the blessings in my life….have you?

BUMPS in the Road:

Do you know the saying “you gotta crawl before ya walk, walk before ya run….”?

With my back issues, and being overweight, I had difficulty most days just getting out of bed; much less walking…you could forget any other form of exercise. So I knew, for me, the first step had to be getting rid of some of the weight. I might not have chosen the best or most approved method of weight loss, but I found what worked for me! And that is what I recommend to anyone.  If it is something that you know is not going to work for you, then DON’T waste your time, money or energy. Do what works for you!! It has to fit your eating style and your lifestyle or you will never be successful.

          My First Bump:

After I started to lose weight, I was able to start exercising. I chose to start out with biking (and not the Harley kind of biking...haha).  Now, that was a sight!! I had not ridden a bicycle in at least 30 years AND I am not the most coordinated person in the world! But my husband had bought me the bike I wanted for my birthday (ONE YEAR BEFORE) and I had yet to “break it in”. So, I decided one Saturday to dust it off, pump up the tires (put on my helmet), made Frank stay in the house, and went for a ride. In Florida, we had nice cement bike paths, and I enjoyed a nice 2 mile trek…boy was I proud of myself and I was feeling pretty good too….UNTIL, I had to cross the street to get back to the house. Oh my…shaky legs, on a bike, and have to cross a street with traffic. I finally decided to cross at the entrance to our subdivision and then cross back over onto the sidewalk! And YES, I hit the grass (St. Augustine, soggy grass) and the front tire bogged down and in VERY SLOW motion, I and the bike fell over into the grass and sidewalk. Mind you, I had just ridden 2 miles, ugh. *blush* I could NOT stand up!!!!! So here I am, lying in the grass, bike on top of me, looking around to make certain no one is around. How did I get up? I finally got on my knees and pushed on the handle bars to push myself up. Prayed no one saw me, and pushed the bike the rest of the way home. I did have to tell Frank about the episode because of all the grass stains and scuffed up hands, and YES he still laughs about that today!!

Not to long ago, I would have gone back to the garage, put the bike up, and deemed my efforts for exercising a failure. I would have totally used this as a reason to stop exercising which would have led to failure of my goals…..I know, because it was the same cycle I had done for years. It was like I sought out any reason (any bump) as an excuse to quit.  The key this time is that I did not let this bump stop me! I dusted myself off, reminded myself of my goals and I started biking almost every day. Then I started alternating walking with biking. Before I knew it I was walking 2-3 miles and biking from 10-15 miles and had lost a total of 40 pounds!! I BEAT THAT BUMP!!

I have to say three things to end this post: 1. losing weight was the “easy” part. Keeping it off is where the true challenge comes into play, 2. there are all sorts of “Bumps” which arise in any journey - - it is finding the will / desire to keep going which makes the journey a success, and 3. remind yourself often of your goals!

**NOTE: This weekend I will “change pace” a little and will be posting a blog about goals. I have to preface this by saying I am not one that goes by the book with goal setting, but I do think they are essential pathways in any journey.

The Starting Line:

I remember the day I looked down and saw my “stomach” for the first time and thought… “What is that and where did it come from?”  That was a very long time ago, and since that time, the “stomach” has come and gone many times!! *smile*

I have tried diet after diet, work out after work out and got larger and larger after each program. Oh, they worked at first and I swore that never again would I gain that weight back….and I didn’t, I gained new poundage plus more!! Ugh, it was so frustrating, disheartening, defeating, saddening, depressing….and the list goes on and on. Sound familiar??

I tried really hard to become happy in my skin and large body. And if asked would have told you that I was happy, and maybe I was…as long as I did not have to look in the mirror or try to buy new clothes! But the truth is I learned to tolerate the weight and never really felt comfortable with myself.  When I look back at pictures from those times, I see someone with a smile on the outside, but still get that weird feeling in my gut because I still so clearly remember the sadness I felt every time someone took a camera out. Geez…I did not want to see myself in a mirror, much less have it printed out on paper!!

I have to say that I am not certain exactly what the change factor was that happened 2 years ago. But I can tell you that there were several things that helped…these are: 1. we moved to Florida, and I knew we would be going to the beach often…that means BATHING SUIT IN PUBLIC!!! 2. we bought a Harley and because of my size, I had difficulty getting on the back AND when I did get on, I had to look at my reflection in my husbands helmet…YIKES….there I am again!! I wanted to be a Harley babe, not a Harley blob!! *laugh*. 3. I wanted to be fit...be able to do things I had not been able to do for a long time, and 4. I realized that since my sister’s death, three years before, I had fed my sadness with food. I finally realized that she would rather I enjoy and celebrate life than to wallow in the sadness of her sudden and early death!

So, this is where my journey began, this was the “starting line”……

Why the journey?

I am very new to the world of blogging, but thanks to the gentle push of an old friend, here I am....blogging about my journey. My hope is to not bore you all, but to inspire someone that needs inspiring to set and/or meet a goal. Although my journey has been about weightloss and fitness, yours might be something totally not related, but it is all about learning how to set goals, over come obstacles, make adjustments, and celebrate your successes.

I feel the strong need to "pay it forward" since so many have supported and encouraged me through this journey, I want to inspire others to be successful in their specific journey.

So....here we go!!! My first few messages (after this one) will be a brief step back in time by a few years....I feel you need to hear about the old, to appreciate the new. I promise to keep it brief, but feel the foundation from where I started is an important part of the journey.

I also hope that you all will share your comments, ideas, celebrations, and obstacles. So that we can all learn from and support each other in our journey.